


You Make My Heart Twerk

by decadent_mousse



Series: We Don't Skip A Beat [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Heartbeat Kink, Hearts, Hermann is distressed, Holding Hands, Hypochondria, M/M, Mutual Pining, Newt is also distressed, Pulsatile Tinnitus, Well almost, a little bit maybe, it's holding of a kind, more like wrist holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 01:51:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14415084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decadent_mousse/pseuds/decadent_mousse
Summary: Hermann has a problem -- several problems, really, and Newt is at least one of them.





	You Make My Heart Twerk

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [patster223](https://archiveofourown.org/users/patster223/pseuds/patster223) for a cardiophilia prompt on Tumblr (because I jump at any and every chance to write about hearts): _“I can hear my own heartbeat. Is that normal?”_
> 
> Title inspired by this, uh, [thing](https://dribbble.com/shots/3312161-You-Make-My-Heart-Twerk).

“I can hear my own heartbeat.  Is that normal?”

Newt shot Hermann a look over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the kaiju he was dissecting.  “Could be. I mean, could also  _ not _ be.”

“Thank you, Newton,” Hermann scowled.  “That’s very helpful.”

“Dude, you know I’m not a  _ medical  _ doctor, right?”

“But you do have knowledge of human anatomy.  You should know something about the subject.”

If Newton hesitated in his motions for a fraction of a second, Hermann didn’t see it.  “Well--  _ yeah _ , but I’m also up to my elbows in kaiju guts most days.  That’s kind of like asking a horse vet for medical advice, Hermann.”

“Fine,” Hermann sighed.  “Nevermind.”

They continued on like that for about half an hour, the only sounds in the lab the slicing of Newt’s scalpel, the scratching of Hermann’s chalk on the board, and -- of course -- the incessant rhythmic throbbing in Hermann’s ears.

“Okay, so, what exactly is the deal?”

Hermann turned to look at Newt, who had put down his instruments and was already in the process of tossing his gloves in the trash.  He turned around and crossed his arms, looking at Hermann expectantly.

“It’s exactly like I said.”

“You didn’t exactly say anything.  You just asked me if it was normal.  When did it start?”

He frowned.  “A couple days ago.”

“And you’re only mentioning it now?”

“I  _ have _ been somewhat busy, Newton!  And I kept hoping it would go away.”

“Okay, okay.  Fine. So what’s it sound like?  Does it sound, you know, normal?”

“I’m not accustomed to listening to it.  How would I know?”

Newt looked thoughtful.  “Well, I mean, you’re all about patterns and numbers.  Does it sound regular?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, good.  That’s good.”

“Is it?  It still doesn’t tell me  _ why _ it’s started happening.”

“Well, a bunch of things could’ve caused it,” Newton started, counting on his fingers as he strode across the room.  “Could be a brain tumor, could be a lesion on one of your blood vessels, it could be high blood pressure, it--”

Hermann blanched.

Newt laughed.  “It could be  _ any _ of those things, but it also really, seriously, is probably nothing, Hermann.  You aren’t feeling sick or anything else like that, are you? No dizziness or anything like that?”

“No.”

“Well, if you haven’t been feeling lightheaded, and it doesn’t sound irregular or weird, then  _ yeah _ , it is normal.”

“But--”

“It just happens sometimes.  We’ve both been really caught up in our work, it’s been dead quiet in here for like… a _week_.  It’s not that surprising that you might start picking up on something like that.  It’s like what happens when you go inside a soundproof room. The less outside noise there is for you to hear, the more you start to pick up on inside noise.”

“So how do I make it stop?”

“Uh, you don’t.  If it’s benign, it’ll probably just go away on its own once you stop worrying about it.”

“And if it isn’t?”

“Okay, now I know you’ve been working too hard.  You are  _ not _ usually this big of a hypochondriac.”  

Newt approached him and before Hermann could register what he was doing, he was grabbing him by the wrist.  

“What-- what are you doing?”

“I’m going to check your pulse so I can prove to you that you’re fine.”  He paused. “Do you have a watch?”

“Why do you need one?”

“I count too fast.”

“Of course you do,” Hermann replied, with a note of what was most definitely not fondness, fishing his watch out of his pocket and handing it to Newt.  “I thought you weren’t qualified.”

“I said I wasn’t a medical doctor, not that I wasn’t qualified.  I’m probably the most qualified person in this place.”

“I’m sure the medical staff would be delighted to hear that.”

“I can take you to medical if you’d feel better hearing it from them.  I mean…”

“No, no.  I’ll trust your judgment.”

Newton grinned at him.  “Wow. I’m marking today on the calendar.”

“Newton.”

“Huh?”

He was still holding Hermann’s wrist, and by extension, technically, his hand, and was -- as far as Hermann could tell -- not actually _checking_ _his pulse_.  His face heated.

“Oh, right.”

Newt adjusted his grip and glanced down at the watch.  Hermann’s pulse, traitorous thing that it was, felt like it was humming against Newton’s fingertips.

“Well,” Newt said finally, “it’s a little fast.”

“Is it?”

Newton licked his lips and glanced up at him with those eyes of his, which did not help the situation  _ at all _ .  “But you’ve got yourself all freaked out over this, so that’s not that surprising.  It’s steady. It’s probably steadier than mine, honestly. See? You’re fine.”

He let go of Hermann’s wrist and as awkward as he’d felt earlier when he’d held it for a prolonged amount of time, Hermann found himself missing the touch.  

Come to think of it, he did feel a bit lightheaded, but he didn’t think it was a medical condition.


End file.
